


Roommates

by leviiackermanns



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics), Red Robin (Comics)
Genre: Additional Characters to be added, Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate Universe - No Capes, Bruce Wayne is a Good Parent, Childhood Trauma, Crime Scene Photographer Tim, Idiots in Love, M/M, Mentions of Roy Harper/Jason Todd Relationship, Mentions of homophobia, On Hiatus, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Out of Character, Protective Damian Wayne, Slow Build, Tattoo Artist Jason, Tattoo'd Jason Todd, Tim has anxiety issues, roommate au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-16
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-09-20 12:56:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17023035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/leviiackermanns/pseuds/leviiackermanns
Summary: Jason Todd ends up being evicted from his apartment after an altercation with the landlord's son, so he goes to his brother for help, Dick, as any good brother would, finds Jason some temporary accommodation as the roommate of his co-worker and adopted son of Bruce Wayne: Tim Drake. Jason was only looking for a place to stay until he could find himself a suitable place to stay but ends up falling in love with his roommate.On hiatus for the time being (i forgot where I was going with this)





	1. Evicted.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm testing the waters of a new fic before my other one is finished. I saw a prompt a while ago that was something along the lines of "a friend of a friend is being evicted and needs a place to stay au" and I decided to write this. Characters are OOC, theres no vigilantes, I am writing out of pure indulgence again.
> 
> Rated M for language and possible scenarios later on. Please let me know what you think?

It was a Saturday afternoon when Jason noticed the eviction notice taped to the door of his apartment. He had had a shitty morning at work and his mood soured when he took in the sight of the notice. It told him he had one week to pack his stuff and get out.

Jason was in the middle of packing his belongings in the living room and had his phone cradled between his shoulder and his ear.

“Hello?” His brother answered the phone on the fourth ring.

“Dickie, I need help.” Jason paused. “Hang on, is this you just waking up? It’s 2pm.”

“Fuck off Jason.” Jason heard shuffling on the other end of the line. “Someone was murdered in an office building downtown and I was called in at three in the fucking morning to deal with it.”

“Whatever, I still need help, and it’s an emergency.”

That got Dick’s attention. “What’s happened, Little Wing?” Jason heard more shuffling. “Did you get arrested again.”

“What no?” Jason didn’t know why that sounded like a question. He stopped packing and moved to the couch, taking his phone in hand. “No, I’m being evicted from my apartment.”

“WHAT?!” Dick shouted, Jason flinched at the volume. “Why are you being evicted?”

“Cause I punched the landlord's son, but to be fair it was the fuckheads fault for starting it.” Jason said, matter-of-factly.

Jason heard Dick sigh. “Just tell me what happened. Are you being charged with assault?”

“No, I’m not.” Jason sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand. “I went out on Wednesday night since I was off Thursday and I brought a guy home with me for some fun and apparently that insulted the sons delicate sensibilities, so when I went out for painkillers and coffee the next day, the son decided to be all homophobic and started calling me a ‘faggot’ and told me I was going to burn in Hell and then went for me, so I punched him. There’s cameras with mics in the apartments hallways for security so I have proof that it was self defense so there's no charges being pressed.”

Dick was quiet for a long moment, Jason almost thought he fell back asleep. “I think I might know someone you can stay with until you can get a new apartment or whatever. Let me call you back.” Dick never let Jason reply and hung up.

Jason flopped back onto the sofa and groaned.

* * *

 

It was after dinner when Dick called him back. “So I have promising news that your not really in a position to deny.”

“That’s what you think.” Jason murmured, Dick still heard him.

“Jason.” Dick scolded. “My kind of co-worker has a place on the outside of Chinatown, a huge 3 bed apartment. It’s not too far from your work or from Roy and Arti’s apartment either. The owner won’t charge much for your share of the rent either.”

“That sounds too good to be true Dickie.” It did sound too good to be true, there had to be a catch. “Don’t tell me I’m going to have to live with some over fifty year old slob.”

Dick laughed. “Nah, Timmy is only twenty-three and his apartment is usually immaculate, from the two or three times I’ve seen it.” 

“Timmy?” Jason asked, what adult still had their name as Timmy? Then again his brother decided to stay with Dick and Jason long ago gave up questioning it.

“Oh, yeah.” Dick laughed. “The owner of the apartment is Tim Drake, adopted son of Bruce “The Billionaire” Wayne.”

What? “Dick, what the fuck?”

Dick cackled on the other end of the line. Jason knew he was fucked. Tim was the twenty-three year old adopted son of Bruce Wayne, not that you could ever tell with Tim having the same jet black hair and piercing blue eyes that the Wayne’s were known for and if Jason was being honest, in his whole twenty-five years of existence, that Tim was the most attractive person he had ever seen.

_ Yeah _ , Jason thought as Dick continued to cackle down the phone at him,  _ I’m fucked, and not in the way I want to be. _


	2. Oh, God Damn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Ave Maria song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2H5rusicEnc)
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> This chapter was beta'd by my dad friend Steph. EDIT: Poll now closed.

It was just after two in the afternoon when Tim finally stumbled, exhausted, into bed. He was on the verge of sleep when his phone started ringing. Dick’s number flashed up on screen along with the ridiculous selfie he had taken of himself when he added his number to his phone.

“I swear to fuck Dick, if your going to tell me that there’s another body to photograph I’m actually going to stab you.” Tim muttered, he was trying to go for threatening but he really just sounded sleep deprived. 

“Did you just threaten a detective of the GCPD?” Dick sounded appalled. 

“Dick I haven’t slept since thursday. Now. What. Do. You. Want?”

“Well, you know how I have a brother right? He’s real handsome.” Dick started, when he didn't elaborate, Tim rolled his eyes.

“I’m not going to date your brother Dick.” Tim muttered. “Don’t think I forgotten that the last date you set up was with a known sex offender.”

“I didn't know!” Dick protested.

“You’re literally a cop.” Tim countered, he was already too tired for this conversation, he rolled onto his back sighed.

“Anyway, I’m not asking you to date my brother, but I do need a favour to do with him.” 

“And what would that be?” Jesus Christ, Tim just wants to be able to go to sleep.

“He’s been evicted from his apartment and really needs a place t-” Dick started.

“Your going to ask if he can rent out my spare room?” Tim cut in.

“Yes, please Timmy.” Dick sounded desperate. “Look my brother won’t be much of a problem, he keeps to himself, he’s tidy, he can cook, he likes books, and he has a job.”

“For how long?” Tim asked.

“For as long as it takes for him to get somewhere affordable for his own.” Dick replied.

Tim sighed. “I want to meet him first. I don’t want someone I don’t know anything about in my moving in right away.”

Tim heard Dick gasp. “Yes! I’ll arrange a meet up.” Dick said enthusiastically. “You won't regret this, I promise. I’ll see you Monday!” With that Dick hung up. 

Tim had the feeling that he was going to regret this, he didn’t even know Dick’s brothers name. Tim didn’t even remember hearing his phone hitting the bed before he fell asleep

* * *

 

“Hey, Damian, I need a favour.” Tim called as he walked into the penthouse.

Damian looked up from the cup he was pouring his tea into. “What favour?”  He said, pulling a mug out of the cupboard. “You want coffee?

“Uh, no actually, I’m meeting Dick at a cafe in twenty minutes and that’s why I’m here for a favour.

Damian placed the kettle back onto the stove and putting the mug back into the cupboard. “What?”

“Uh, Dick called me on Saturday and asked if I could rent out my spare room to his brother.” Tim shrugged with his hands. “I’m meeting the brother today, but I wanted to ask if you could come with me ‘cause you are a better judge of character than me.”

Damian looked at his tea forlornly. “Sure, let me get ready.” He said, going to get ready in his room. “Why did you wait so long to ask me? Is this anxiety stalling again?” Damian called from his room.

“Uh, yeah, sorry.” Tim blushed a little at being called out.

Tim hated his anxiety, granted it was a lot better now than it was when he was a teenager and Damian had first moved into the manor but it still affected his life.

Tim was thirteen when his parents had died, his parents and Bruce were close friends, so Bruce adopted him so that he didn’t go to an orphanage. It wasn’t long after Tim was adopted that Damian was dropped off. Tim had thought the ten year old was going to be the little brother he had always wanted. Tim was excited to have a little brother, but that excitement had quickly faded when Damian showed nothing but open hostility towards him.

The hostility had worsened Tim’s anxiety which was already getting bad due to the deaths of his parents. It was only when Bruce had taken both the boys and talked to them, the hostility had faded. 

Through their chat Tim had gotten a lot of his feelings out to Bruce. Tim had told Bruce about the anxiety and Bruce had asked if he truly wanted to be the future CEO of Wayne Enterprises, Tim had said no. It was that day that Tim realised he was allowed to now pursue his dream of becoming a photographer, with Damian agreeing to become the future CEO of WE. 

It wasn’t long after that talk that Damian came and apologised to Tim, not realising that Tim had mental health issues. From that day forward, Damian became more and more like the little brother that Tim had wanted, Damian had even came and attended some of Tim’s therapy sessions with him.

“Tim!” Damian’s voice broke through his thoughts, startling him. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” Tim’s voice sounded distant, he cleared his throat. “Are you ready?”

Damian nodded and they left the penthouse together.

“Do you even know anything about this guy?” Damian asked as they left the apartment complex. 

Tim shook his head. “Not really. Dick’s mentioned a few things.” Tim shoved his hands into his pockets, it was freezing in Gotham. “I know he’s gay, that he loves books, that sometimes he volunteers some of his afternoons to feeding homeless kids, and that he had a motorcycle accident about two years ago.”

“An accident?” 

“Yeah.” Tim frowned trying to recall the details. “When I first started at the GCPD, Dick was supposed to be working the case I got put on but he was out because of the accident. When he got back, he told me about it. It was real bad apparently. His brothers got a whole load of scars because of it now and apparently the whole thing was so bad that Dick said a patch of his brothers hair went white with the trauma.”

“Fuck.” Damian said quietly.

Tim hummed in agreement. “Yeah, Dick said that he rolled over the car and his helmet came off and got hit in the face with something” Tim spotted the coffee shop a few store fronts down. “The cafe is there.”

When they reached the cafe and went in, Tim spotted Dick straight away, Damian told him to go and sit, that he would buy the coffee.

Tim made his way over to Dick, fiddling with one of the buttons on his peacoat. As soon as Tim looked at the man sitting next to Dick at the table Tim knew he definitely regret agreeing to this, but at the same time was absolutely on board having this hunk of a man living with him.

Dick’s brother looked  _ huge.  _ His hair was the same colour as Dick’s with a white patch at the front and Tim could see a thin scar running up from his jaw to just under his right eye, the brother was wearing a tight grey shirt that was rolled up to the elbows and it left  _ nothing  _ to the imagination.

Tim was sure he could hear Ave Maria playing in the back of his mind somewhere.

Shit, Tim was absolutely screwed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would love if you guys gave me feedback


	3. Poster Boy Crush

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damian/Jon background relationship won at 84.6% of the votes.

Tim pulled out a chair at the table Dick and his brother was at, interrupting the conversation they had going on, both men looked at him. Tim felt himself flush, he was already on edge, he sat down quickly so that Dick wouldn’t try and go in for a hug, Tim didn’t think he could handle a hug right now and his brother/bodyguard was too far away.

“Timmy! You came.” Dick said, happily.

Tim just sat down and rolled his eyes. “Of course I did.”

Dick grinned. “Okay so Jason, this is Tim. Tim, this is my brother Jason.”

Shit, Jason was a lot hotter up close. Tim really hoped that he would be able to get actual words out in front of the other man.

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” Jason said. 

Tim flashed him one of his Hollywood smiles. “Hey.”  _ Smooth, Drake, real fucking smooth.  _ For some reason his internal voice sounded a lot like Damian

“Do you want coffee?” Dick asked Tim.

Tim looked back at Dick, then to the counter and back again. “Uh, no, I brought my brother with me and he’s getting me some.”

“You didn’t say you were bringing your brother.” Dick said, frowning.

Tim’s felt his cheeks redden. “Yeah, uh, he’s quite helpful with, uhh, with you know.” Tim flapped his hand a little.

“Oh… OH! Shit, yeah.” Dick made a face. “Sorry, I actually forgot all about that.”

“It’s okay.” Tim’s still felt the flush on his face.

Tim kept glancing to the counter to see where Damian was, Tim was extremely on edge, fidgeting with one of the buttons on his coat, he still couldn’t see his brother, which was a feat since Damian was kind of huge.. 

“Hey, if this whole thing is making you uncomfortable, we don’t need to do it. I can sleep on my friends couch, it’s no problem” Jason told Tim.

Tim’s turned back to Jason, he felt his eyes widen for a split second, he opened his mouth to say something when a mug was placed in front of him. Damian sat down next to Tim and squeezed his arm, the pressure reminding Tim to stay grounded and that he’s okay.

“Thanks Damian.” Tim said quietly to his brother. “No, sorry, I’m okay. I’m just having an off day that’s all.” Tim smiled at Jason in what he hoped was reassurance.

“Okay.” Jason didn’t really look convinced.

“Yeah.” Tim said lamely. “Anyway, this is my brother Damian. Damian this is Dick and Jason.”

They exchanged greetings and then the four of them fell into a somewhat awkward silence that almost had Tim hoping that a portal to Hell would open up and swallow him whole. Tim’s knee started bouncing as he sipped his coffee.

“So, that do you two do for a living then, Tim hasn’t told me anything about you.” Damian asked to break the ice, Tim knew that it was more for Tim’s benefit than his own curiosity.

“I work as a detective at the GCPD, so I work with Tim sometimes.” Dick said, he grinned at Tim.

“Cool.” Tim had the feeling that Damian did not, in fact, find it cool. “ What about you, Jason?”

“Oh, I’m a tattoo artist. Roy, Artemis and I all co-own Outlaws tattoo parlour in Chinatown..” Jason replied.

It was then, when Jason took a sip of his coffee, that noticed that his inner forearm was inked. Both of them were, much to Tim’s delight. On his left forearm was a humanoid looking creature with a stag skull and antlers for a head. The right forearm had a portrait of a woman, only her lower face and neck was visible, the upper part of her face covered by a crown. Both tattoos were done in the same style, sketchy, messy, a lot of lines. Tim actually liked the style if he was being honest.

“Roy done them, he has a specific style that I really like but cannot do myself.” Jason said, he must have noticed Tim looking at them. “My style is a lot cleaner and more colourful.”

“Oh.” Tim’s voice sounded high, his face flushed again, his knee bouncing harder. The others had to have felt it by now.

Half way through a conversation that Dick instigated and Tim only listened too, he felt three of Damian’s fingers on top of his bouncing knee, holding it in place, his brother didn’t even pause to tell him to stop. Once Tim knew that Damian was sure that he wouldn’t start the bouncing again, he felt Damian’s hand in the bend of his elbow. The conversation continued on but Tim felt someone watching him.

When he looked up he saw that Jason was watching him with a frown on his face, like he was trying to discover just what was wrong with him. Tim smiled at him.

“Do you want to see it?” Tim asked Jason, the other two went silent. 

“See what?” Dick asked, smirking at Tim suggestively.

Tim flushed again, he was starting to think it was becoming permanent. “The apartment.”

“Yeah, sure.” Jason said with a smile.

* * *

 

It didn’t take them long to reach Tim’s apartment, it was on the outer edge of Chinatown, the area actually looked real nice and the lobby and landings of the apartment building were well maintained.

When they got to Tim’s door, he opened it and let them go in first. Damian took Dick through to the living room so that Tim could show Jason around.

“I’ll, uhh, show you around then you can decide if you actually want to stay here.” Tim said, closing the apartment door behind him.

Tim seemed to have some trouble getting some of his words out, stammering a little. “Sure.” Jason paused. “Are you sure about this though, you seem really uncomfortable.”

Tim huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, I just have a problem with, um, new people. Once I get used to you I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.” Jason wasn’t really convinced, but Dick had told him how much Tim was going to charge him for his share in rent, and it was cheap, so Jason wasn’t really going to argue.

“Okay, so this door to the right is the kitchen.” Tim said gesturing to the door a few paces in front of them, when they reached it Tim opened the door and pushed it open. The kitchen was  _ huge _ and Jason could actually see himself being able to cook in there. Pulling the door closed and pointed to another door across from the kitchen. “That’s just a toilet, mainly guests use it, or me if I’m too lazy to go to my room.”

When they reached the end of the hall there was an archway to the right that looked like it led into the living area and another hall to the left of them.

“I’ll show you in there last.” Tim said pointing to archway. Tim made his way down the hall to the left. “This room is my office, I develop pictures in here a lot so I’d appreciate it of you stayed out.”

Tim went over to double doors on the left of the hallway pulling them open to reveal a washer and dryer. “Utilities.”

Continuing down the hall they came to another door on the right, Tim opened it and went in with Jason following behind him. “This would be your room. This door to your left is a closet and the one to your right is a bathroom. One of the switches on the outside is lights, one is to turn the shower on, and the other is for the extractor fan.” 

The en-suite bathroom almost as big as his kitchen in his soon to be old apartment. Jason followed Tim into the main bedroom area. The bed was massive, three pillows running along the head of the bed, there were no sheets on the bed. Jason assumed that Tim thought he would bring his own bedding along. The window spanned along one wall of the room and there was a tv on the wall across from the bed.

“Um.” Tim started but he looked at a loss for what to say. 

“Man, this room is  _ huge. _ ” Jason said.

Tim laughed quietly. “It’s actually small compared to mine. When, uhh, when my cousin saw it he said it was the size of a small apartment.”

_ Jesus fuck.  _ Jason was in awe, but not only that he absolutely did not want to think about Tim’s bedroom or Tim in his bedroom. Nope, Jason was not going down that path. 

“The bedrooms are also soundproofed.”  _ Fuck.  _ That statement did nothing to help Jason’s train of thoughts, he was about to make a joke but when he looked at Tim the joke died on his tongue. Tim face was flushed bright red and he was looking at anything but Jason. “Um, I-I have one last thing then I’ll take you to the living room.”

Tim’s voice sounded strangled but Jason followed him out of the room. There was a small nook just diagonal from the room that they had just came from. There was three empty bookshelves, a lamp, and a comfortable looking armchair. 

“Uh, Dick said you like to read.” Tim said quietly. “My books are in my room so the space is yours if you want it. Come on, I’ll show you the living room now.”

Fuck it. “What about your room?” Jason asked, mustering false bravado from somewhere.

Tim blinked at Jason then pointed to a door at the end of the hall. “There.” He said, making his way back down the hall towards the living room. Jason felt his shoulder sag, he wasn’t sure if it was in relief or disappointment. 

Once they reached the living room, Jason noticed that Dick and Damian were on the sofa, the TV was on, but only Dick was paying attention to it. Damian was curled up on the couch smiling at his phone.

“You and Jon better not be sexting while your on my couch.” Tim said, but there wasn’t much venom in his voice, Damian flipped him off but never replied. Tim turned to Jason gesturing to the room with a hand. “Living room. There’s a dining table over there too.”

If Jason was being honest he would actually really love to live here, he was in awe of just how large the apartment was. Jason was positive that he could fit an extra living room into the amount of space that was left over.

Like his bedroom, on of the walls were just windows, there was a dining table with eight chairs close to the back of the room. Closer to the front there was a huge plush looking couch and two equally as comfortable looking armchairs, all matching chocolate brown fabric, there was a coffee table in front of the sofa that just looked like a slab of tree with legs. On the wall across from the couch was a massive TV with a unit underneath that had several different games consoles on.

“So, uh, do you, uh, do you want the room?” Tim asked hesitantly.

Jason didn’t even have to think about it. “Yeah, that would be great.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this was probably really boring, but feedback is always appreciated


	4. Nobody Expects The Spanish Inquisition!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Crimbo y'all. New poll, Poll now closed.
> 
> Also there is a Monty Python joke in here and in the title. Also this chapter didn't end like I wanted to at all? I sent this chapter to my beta, Steph, but I'm going home for 3 days so I posted this before she could read it so sorry for mistakes

Jason was in his small room at the studio gathering his equipment to get ready for his next client, once he set up the paper towels, disinfectant, vaseline, and inks, Jason noticed that he was running out of black ink. 

Jason sighed and got up and went through to Roy’s room. “Roy, man, you got any spare black ink?” Jason asked, walking right in since he knew Roy was free.

“Well well well.” Roy said, spinning in his chair like some sort of Bond villain. “If it isn’t lover boy, what’s up my man, I feel like you’ve been avoiding me this week.” 

“For fuck sake Roy, I just need black ink, I’m running out and I have a client in ten minutes.” Jason said, exasperated. 

Roy dropped the playfulness and pointed to a cabinet in the corner. “Yeah man, there is some in there.”

“Thank you.” Jason said as he went and grabbed a bottle. Roy shouted something as he left the room but Jason just flipped him off, not listening to a word he said.

Continuing in his set up for the next client, Jason knew that Roy wasn’t going to let this go. He and Roy had been friends for years, even before Artemis came along and both her and Roy developed their relationship. At first Artemis had been jealous of his and Roy’s relationship. Roy was always over affectionate with Jason, always calling him pet names, something that Jason had barely noticed at that point. Though once they sat Artemis down and talked to her, saying they had tried once but they weren’t all that compatible in a romantic relationship. Roy had used the term ‘platonic boyfriends’ and Jason had punched him.

So Jason just knew that Roy wasn’t going to let this down, not when Jason actually had a full blown crush on the man he was living with and had more than once told Roy what he wanted Tim to do to him on drunken nights out, never thinking in a million years he would ever occupy the same space as him. Jason was so fucked and he wasn’t even enjoying it.

* * *

 

Three hours later, Jason was done with his clients tattoo and had cleaned up his room, disposing of used paper towels and needles. He was about to call it a day when Roy barged into the room with two mugs of coffee.

Jason let out a long suffering sigh, because as much as he loved Roy he was still not ready for the line of questioning, it was Jason’s only half day, but then again no one expects the Spanish Inquisition. 

“You knew I wouldn’t let you get away that easy Jaybird.” Roy passed him a mug, Jason took it with a thanks, taking a long sip of the coffee.

“What are you so desperate to know?” Jason asked taking a sip of coffee.

Roy grinned, taking a seat on the only other normal chair in the room. “I guess I want to know how Jason Todd feels living with the handsome, charismatic love of his life.” 

Jason gave him a blank look. “He’s not the love of my life you moron.” 

Roy laughed loudly. “Of course, I would be inclined to believe you Jaybabe but that’s not what you were saying the last time we were out getting wasted.”

Jason groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, he looked into the mug of coffee wondering if the mug was enough to drown himself in. It wasn’t, he took another sip of the coffee. Jason remembered that night vividly. It wasn’t just Roy that Artemis had to drag out of the club that night.

“How do you even remember that?” Jason said, tone bordering on hysteria. “You were so drunk that night that I had to call Art to come and pick you up, which she literally did. She had you slung over her shoulder while keeping a hand on my wrist so I didn’t wander away to look for a hookup.”

“I will always remember whenever the platonic love of my life confesses his undying love for someone, not matter how wasted I am.” Roy said grinning.

“Ugh.”

“So, what is it like?” Roy asked, grin dying down a little and leaning forward on his seat. “I want juicy deets, like if he walks around shirtless or whatever.”

“To be honest, I actually don’t really see him all that often.” Jason shrugged. “He seemed real uncomfortable at first. Dick told me that he suffers a lot of anxiety around new people, so I tried to be as non-startling as possible, but honestly, he’s either rarely in or out of his bedroom or office and if he is he’s either going out to work or playing a game and not paying much attention. Sometimes I think he forgets I’m even there and when I make a noise he jumps like a foot in the air.”

“Huh.” It seemed that Roy wasn’t expecting that answer. “Have you even spoken to him that much?”

“Not really.” Jason said, drinking the last of the coffee. “He apologises if he leaves the house too early or in the middle of the night, which I don’t even hear, and honestly I don’t think I have ever even seen him eat anything.”

“Fuck.” Roy paused, a wide grin forming over his face. “You should woo him with your cooking.”

Jason groaned. “Fuck off Roy.”

“No, but, seriously, cook for him Jay, your a good cook.” Roy said.

Jason rolled his eyes, “okay, whatever.”

Roy grinned at him.

“I need to go home, I have to go get some groceries because there isn’t really any in the apartment. He actually left money for me to get them. It was embarrassing when he told me to use his money.”

“Why man, free food.” Roy said, leaning back in his chair.

“That’s the thing I can buy my own food.” Jason said, huffing a breath out his nose.

“Then cook his dinner.” Roy said with a shrug. Jason rolled his eyes. “Just think of it as payback and you then know he’s actually eating something. How much did he leave you anyway?”

“About three hundred dollars.” Jason muttered.

Roy let out a whistle. “You can even buy good brand shit with that.”

Jason huffed out a laugh. “I suppose.”

* * *

 

Jason was stirring a pot of bolognese when he heard the apartment door slam shut and the sounds of Tim kicking off his shoes. He heard Tim’s footsteps stumble down the hall towards the kitchen, glad that he’s get up the coffee maker that was now gurgling away in its process of making the coffee. He knew Tim had to be exhausted, Jason had heard him leaving at four this morning and now it was close to nine at night. Must have been a long shift.

Jason turned as Tim stumbled into the kitchen and over to the coffee maker, pulling a mug out of the cupboard and pouring a cup of coffee, the coffee maker hadn’t even finished its process.

“Hey, dinner is nearly ready.” Jason said and Tim startled so hard that he spilled coffee over the worktop.

“What?” Tim asked spinning round, sloshing coffee everywhere, Tim didn’t even seem to notice.

“I’m making dinner and it's almost ready.” Jason frowned at Tim who just had a blank look on his face. “When was the last time you had a good night's sleep.”

Tim blinked at him. “I woke up Friday morning.”

Jason almost choked on his own spit. It was Monday night. “Fucking hell Tim.”

Tim just shrugged. “Now that I don’t have Alfred monitoring my every move I tend to sleep less.”

Jason frowned again. “Who’s Alfred?”

Tim downed whatever coffee was left in his mug. “He’s the Wayne family butler, more of a father figure to Bruce now.”

Jason raised an eyebrow, because obviously the Wayne’s had a butler. Tim just shrugged at him.

“I’m going to take a shower.” Tim muttered.

Oh Hell no. “No, your going to get changed and then go sit at the dining table, not going to let you drown because you fell in the shower.”

“Okay.” Tim shuffled out of the room with the empty mug in his hands.

Jason sighed, Dick had mentioned to him a few times over the years that Tim was not anywhere near the type of person who indulged in self care often, but when Jason moved in with Tim he actually began to notice how true that was. Any of the times that Jason actually saw Tim, the other male always looked exhausted, but it was never that bad.

Jason had just plated up the food and took them through to the dining room, with two fresh cups of coffee when came back. Jason swallowed thickly when he saw Tim approach the dining table, he would think Tim was only wearing a massive, loose, white t-shirt if it wasn’t for the red shorts that were visible through the white.

Tim didn’t even seem to acknowledge Jason’s presence as he sat down and started eating, looking half asleep as he took slow deliberate bites of spaghetti or garlic bread. 

Jason grew curious. “Why don’t you sleep?”

Tim sucked a breath in through his nose, seeming to perk up a little at the question, his eyes flickered up to Jason then back to the food, a bit of pink staining his cheeks. “Uhh, nightmares.”

Jason frowned. “Nightmares?”

“Y-Yeah, of the, uhhh, the, uhh, t-the um a-accident t-tha-” Tim stammered out, stopping abruptly, getting up from his chair and all but sprinting out of the room. 

_ Fuck. _ Jason thought. He wanted to go and apologise to Tim for upsetting him, but decided to clear up their half eaten dinner, having lost his appetite.

Jason was in the kitchen, scraping the half eaten dinners into a tub to keep for later when he heard a knock at the apartment door. Jason frowned, it was a bit late for business and neither of them really got social calls at night.

As soon as Jason opened the apartment door he found himself being hauled out the door by the front of his shirt and being slammed against the wall. Jason came face-to-face, for the first time, of protective younger brother Damian Wayne, green eyes full of rage. 

“What did you do?” Damian’s voice didn’t portray the rage that was on his face, his voice eerily calm. If Jason was a lesser man he would have been terrified, but honestly he was just confused.

“I just asked a question, I didn’t know he’d get upset.” Jason’s voice betrayed light hysteria, he threw up his hands in surrender. 

Damian growled and shoved Jason against the wall again, but let go of the shirt.

“I’m going to go in there and take care of the mess you just created.” Damian said, venom lacing his voice. “I expect you to apologise to him in the morning.”

With that Damian disappeared into the apartment, Jason sighed, following him in, closing and locking the apartment door. Jason went back into the kitchen to finish cleaning up. He felt equal parts numb and confused as he went to bed, he didn’t get much sleep that night.

* * *

 

“Roy!” Jason called out for his friend when he went into the shop the morning after the incident. 

Jason hadn’t seen nor heard either Tim or Damian that morning, and he left just before nine to make it to work before the shop opened for business.

“I’m back here” Jason heard Roy call from the break room through the back. 

Jason made his way to the break room. Roy was sitting on the couch eating cereal from a bowl with his feet propped up on the coffee table.

“Dude, I think I fucked up last night.” Jason said, dropping into the sofa beside Roy, resting his head on Roy’s shoulder.

“What you do, babe?” Roy asked, continuing to eat his breakfast.

“Well last night Tim came home half asleep and he said he hadn’t slept since Friday and I stupidly asked why he doesn’t really sleep, he said nightmares and I asked about that and I think I triggered a panic attack.” Jason said, leaning into Roy more. “Damian showed up, full protective brother mode, slammed me into a wall twice, told me I had to apologise this morning.”

“Did you?”

“No, I neither of them were up when I left.” Jason said quietly.

“Dude, you know why he has nightmares right?” Jason frowned at Roy shaking his head. “Aw, man. How do you not know? It was big news.”

“What was?” Jason asked, he had the feeling he didn’t want to know.

“His parents murders.” Roy said. “It was brutal man.”

_ Shit,  _ Jason thought,  _ I really have fucked up. _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I get feedback for Christmas? It would be appreciated.


	5. Merry Christmas

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year y'all, I hope you have a fab 2019! Sorry this took so long to come out, I was really busy.
> 
> Single Dick and Dick/Babs is about tied so I'm starting off with single Dick then developing that relationship in the background.

When Jason came home that night, the apartment was quiet, there were no sounds of movement or lights on. Jason wondered if Tim was out at work. Jason moved through into the living room switching on lights as he went.

“Tim?” He called out, making sure that he was out.

Jason heard a voice call out from the back of the apartment, he wandered through the back of the apartment towards Tim’s room, Jason paused outside Tim’s bedroom door, knocking, and waited for a reply.

“Come in.” Tim heard call from inside the room.

Jason opened the door and was almost floored with the size of the room. To the left was a door that must of led into Tim’s bathroom. The rest of the bedroom was almost the width of the entire flat. A massive bed stood in the centre of the room, there was a huge, almost full bookshelf against one of the walls. There were photographs plastered onto one of the walls where a TV was also mounted.

Tim was lying back on the bed, wearing sweatpants and a red shirt, with a laptop rested on his stomach.

“Hey.” Tim said, he seemed a lot cheerier than he was.

“Hey, how are you doing?” Jason asked, staying in the door.

“Good, thanks” Tim gave Jason a smile, sliding the laptop onto the bed beside him and sitting up. “I’m not that long awake so...” Tim trailed off with a shrug.

“I wanted I apologise fo-” Jason began.

“Don’t, uhh, don’t worry about it.” Tim interrupted. “I was so exhausted last night that it hit me harder than I expected.”

Jason moved further into the room. “But I do worry about it. That was a really bad reaction to asking about nightmares.” He said, frowning. “Not even my nightmares are that bad.”

Tim just shrugged. “It’s what happens when you witness your parents murders. I had therapy for it but the nightmares come back sometimes.”

_ Oh shit.  _ “You saw them die?” Jason asked hesitantly.

“Yeah.” Tim frowned then shrugged. “I don’t really like talking about it to be honest.” 

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be, you didn’t know.” Tim offered Jason a small smile. “Dick told me about your parents though, so maybe one day I’ll tell you the story.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Dick can’t keep his mouth shut sometimes.”

Tim laughed. “It was not long after I first met him because I asked why you and him didn’t look alike.”

“Ah.” Dick still needed to keep his trap shut. “Wait how did you know what I looked like?”

“Oh.” Tim grinned. “Dick keeps a rather embarrassing photo of the both of you on his desk.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Jason said as the doorbell rang.

Tim snorted looking at his laptop. “Speak of the Devil. He’s at the door.”

Jason was confused. “How do you know that?”

Tim moved the laptop so that the screen was facing him, there was a live video feed of outside the apartment door, Dick was stood out there waiting for someone to answer.

“I’ll go let him in.” Jason said, leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

* * *

 

“So how is asking Barbara out going for you? Made any progress?” Tim asked Dick as they sat down to dinner. Jason had made a simple pasta dish.

“I thought you weren’t going to date after Kori broke off the engagement.” Jason asked. He was confused, Dick and Kori were meant to get married but that all changed when Kori left for another man. Jason thought Dick was still heartbroken over that.

“I did say that but my long term love for the Commissioner's daughter is something I can’t get rid of, you know?” Dick said, giving Jason a somewhat knowing look. “But, to answer your question Timmy, it’s going poorly and honestly I think she probably thinks I’m weird and or creepy.”

“Is that you now just realising that?” Tim asked with a raised eyebrow, Jason almost choked on his pasta.

Dick looked scandalous. “Excuse you. Anyway when was the last time you went on a date  _ Timothy.” _

“Do I really need to bring up the sex offender again?” Tim asked with a raised eyebrow.

_ “I didn’t know!”  _ Dick said, somewhat hysterically.

Jason raised an eyebrow at Tim. “Sex offender?”

“Yup, Dick here decided to set me up on a blind date with some dude.” Tim cast Dick a withering glare. “Turns out he, at the time, was a newly registered sex offender. He was one of those gross fucks that went to gay clubs and felt up the guys, got arrested for attempted rape, and guess who was the one that actually caught him?”

“Dick?” Jason didn’t really try hard to guess, in fact Jason was sure that Dick had actually told him about it.

“Bingo. I was there.” Tim gave Dick a look. “I was actually there when Dick arrested him, because Dick wanted to know what it was like at a gay club so I took him. We were both there and somehow he has no memory of the event or the man.”

Jason snorted. “So he set you up with someone he arrested.”

“Yup.”

“Your an idiot Dickie.” Jason said laughing at his brother.

“Yeah, so I am absolutely not dating anyone that Dick recommends no matter how hard he tries.”

“I don’t blame you.” Jason said with a laugh.

“What about you Jay? I know you’ve had a few hookups but you actually dating anyone?”

“You know I rarely date Dick.” If Jason was being honest, he never really found anyone that he knew he could stand longer than a quick fuck.

Jason knew that he always had a thing with Tim, but after living with him for a while, Jason knew,  _ he knew,  _ that if Tim asked him out he would say yes in a heartbeat. Though Jason already knew that wasn’t going to happen but he was a sucker for holding out hope for things he couldn’t have.

* * *

 

Christmas at Wayne Manor was always a lot more wholesome than anyone ever expected. It was maybe to do with Bruce’s close relationship with Tim’s uncle Clark, and the Kent’s being over every Christmas was what made it more wholesome, but Tim wasn’t going to complain.

As much as he was traumatised at the murder of his parents, Tim’s Christmas’ were always left a lot to be desired when they were alive. His parents never got him the gifts that he wanted but the ones they thought he wanted, dinner was lacklustre and cold and there was never any holiday spirit in the Drake household. At Wayne Manor, however, ever since Tim moved in Christmas was always wholly and completely celebrated. Alfred always pulled out all of the stops, and even though Alfred’s cooking was a bit bland, it was so much better than what he got with his parents. Bruce always had a knack of knowing what he wanted for gifts and Tim was never left wanting.

This Christmas was no different. Though, he could see his aunt and uncles dismay at the expensive gift that Bruce and Damian got him versus the gifts he got from the Kent’s. Tim always cherished the gifts he got from them, it ways always the thought that counted.

Tim was always the last one to open his gifts, he preferred it that way, though no one was sure why. Once they got round to him he realised he had a small mountain to go through.

“What the F Damian.” Tim asked picking up the top gift, slim, long, about the length of a keyboard. Damian just shrugged at him.

Pulling the wrapping paper off the first of Damian’s gifts was, in fact, a keyboard. It was a Razer Huntsman Elite. Tim scowled at Damian, it been a few months since his old gaming pc broke down. Tim had gave away his old Blackwidow X Chroma keyboard and threw out the old generic mouse he had. It was beginning to look like Damian was replacing his equipment. The next, thicker but smaller box confirmed Tim’s suspicions. It was a Razer Mamba Elite mouse, best mouse for personalization. A Razer Nari Wireless headset, an Ultra Threadripper Extreme gaming pc, two 32” Samsung monitors, and a gaming chair followed. As much as Tim loathed to admit it but this had been the best gift ever from Damian.

Tim reached over and pulled his brother into a hug. “Thanks Damian, your the best.”

Damian squeezed Tim before letting him go. “Anything for you Timmy.”

“You haven’t even opened the best part yet.” Jon piped up from the couch. 

Tim frowned as Jon handed him a thin wrapped, but really floppy present. Opening it Tim’s brain almost short circuited. The picture on the mouse mat was completely ridiculous and Tim is glad he was not in the picture. It seemed to be taken when his brother and cousins were in Central City. It was a holiday Tim wasn’t able to go on because of work. Damian, Jon, Conner, Vic, Kori, Cassie, Bart, Megan, and Garfield were all in the picture they were all wearing ugly Christmas sweaters and pulling stupid faces. Tim loved and hated it at the same time.

“This is so horrible, I love it, thank you.” Tim said stunned, he was surprised that they got them all together long enough to take the picture.

Tim had got a painting that his Aunt Lois made. Bruce had given him two pictures, with beautiful frames, one of the pictures was of Alfred and Bruce, it was just a normal selfie that Bruce had taken, but it was always good to have pictures of Alfred. The other photo was of Tim and Damian, it was summer in the picture and they were walking through the grounds of Wayne Manor, though both of them appeared to be younger, it must have been the first summer after Damian and Tim stopped fighting. Conner had gotten him a few useful gifts, film for one of his cameras and a few joke gifts.

The last gift he had to open was from Jason. Tim had told him that he shouldn’t gotten him a gift, it was unnecessary, but Jason was adamant to make it up to Tim after the whole incident.

“Who's that one from?” Damian asked, confused.

“Jason.” Tim replied, he knew Damian’s reaction, Damian wasn’t Jason’s biggest fan currently, but had to put up with him now because Tim had forgiven him. He caught Damian’s eye roll just in time. “I did him that he didn’t need to but he got me it anyway.”

Tim opened the bag that the gift was in, pulling out a box and ignoring anything Damian was about to say. It was a Polaroid Original; Polaroid 600 camera. In the bag was also some film. Tim was shocked, out of everything that Tim expected the gift to be a Polaroid camera.

“He got me a Polaroid.” Tim said, astonished, even Damian seemed shocked at the gift selection. No one had given him a Polaroid before.

“Ho, shit, Timmy’s in love.” Tim heard Conner say, Lois scolded her oldest son, he barely heard Kon’s “Sorry Ma.” in reply.

And yeah, if Jason was going to give Tim gifts like this, he was going to end up falling in love with Jason, there was no doubt about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think!


	6. Restless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uhhh, I’m back? Sorry this is so short tho. I had a bit of a shit situation going on, a few people I knew died, I had to decorate, I had no inspiration and then my internet died?   
> Also, I recently got into Young Justice and marathoned it, so I know that I’ve pushed a lil DickBabs but here's a [New Poll](https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScBQFTj36Nh3EdwAroKHlt0CXgc6aI8aB5dmqwL6sWITdfaWw/viewform?usp=sf_link) bc I love Wally

Sometimes, when things started piling up on him, Tim got really restless. It was an anxious sort of restless. He felt as though he was suffocating in his apartment, he walked around the apartment a lot, not being able to stay in one place for too long. 

Tim had decided to take a few days off of work and come stay at the Manor. He knew his choice had Alfred, Bruce and Damian worried, to the point that Damian had come to stay at the Manor for a couple of days as well, just to be sure that Tim wasn’t about to go into a full meltdown. Damian always seemed to have a knack to calming him down when he started to get worked up. 

Tim decided to take a walk around the grounds of the Manor, it was a particularly cold February afternoon and there was still snow on the grounds. Tim had picked up the Polaroid camera that Jason had gotten him.

Tim had actually used the camera a lot more than even he had expected. There was now a wall in the living room of his apartment of pictures he had taken. There was some of Jason, some of Roy and Artemis that Tim took when he went to see the shop, some of Dick doing stupid shit, and some random ones. Tim had created a nice stack of pictures while at the Manor. Pictures of Damian, Bruce and Alfred. Some of Ace and Titus. 

Today he was wandering the grounds, getting pictures of the nature in the gardens, of the wildlife that Damian had managed to attract with feeders; squirrels, birds, hedgehogs and one random fox. Tim named the fox Todd, both because he secretly loved The Fox and The Hound and because of Jason.

Jason had been part of the reason that Tim was anxious. It wasn’t even in a bad way, Jason was so  _ good _ to him. Jason had actually begun teaming up with Damian to make sure that Tim was actively taking care of himself, he’d become more protective of Tim in public as well, which Tim had actually began to appreciate, especially when people recognised him. Jason was also a great cook and always made sure that Tim at least got his dinner, even if Tim came home really late, there was always a plate wrapped in foil on the worktop for him to heat up.

Conner had told him that Jason was boyfriend material, that he should ask Jason out or something, and Tim honestly would love to take Jason out on a date. That’s the part that made him anxious, he knew that he would never have the guts to ask Jason out. Hell, with the growing crush he was getting he was finding it increasingly difficult to talk to Jason without stuttering or blushing, he was regressing just when he had gotten comfortable living with the other man.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please let me know what you think?
> 
> I might so a lil bonus chapter soon enough of like Jason and Damian talking or something.


End file.
